Centrifugal pumps use an impeller and volute to create the partial vacuum and discharge pressure to move water through the pump. A centrifugal pump works by the conversion of the rotational kinetic energy, typically from an electric motor or turbine, to an increased static fluid pressure. An impeller is a rotating disk coupled to the motor shaft within the pump casing that produces centrifugal force with a set of vanes. A volute is the stationary housing in which the impeller rotates that collects and discharges fluid entering the pump. Impellers generally are shaft driven, have raised radially directed vanes or fins 1 that radiate away form the eye or center 3 of the impeller, and channels 2 are formed between the vanes. See FIG. 10 and 11. As the impeller turns, centrifugal force created by the rotating vanes pushes fluid away from the eye 3 where pressure is lowest, to the vane tips where the pressure is highest. Water is directed into the pump via input ports, generally positioned near the impeller eye or center 3, and fluid flows within the pump is generally in the channels 2 between the vanes 1. The pressurized fluid is directed by the volute to the discharge or outlet location of the pump.
Small pump applications, for instance for use in footspas or aquariums, generally are either propeller driven axial pumps, or centrifugal impeller type pumps. Smaller pumps are generally more inefficient, creating heat that must be dissipated. A novel impeller design and housing design are presented that allows for both heat dissipation and smooth flow characteristics suitable for a small pump.